The bill Ji Ya calculated didn’t include all of Ji Jiangyuan’s expenses.

Some costs were covered through conveniences provided by Ji Ya’s various boyfriends rather than from her pocket, making them impossible to calculate.

If all expenses were to be tallied, cultivating Ji Jiangyuan to such excellence would have cost over $100,000!

Everyone praised Ji Jiangyuan’s excellence, and Ji Ya used to think the same.

She even took pride in it, believing that after leaving Tang Hongen, both she and her son were better off!

However, the excellent Ji Jiangyuan now only earned $500 per week from his part-time job. While this salary was envied by his peers, at $2,000 monthly, it was remarkable considering his classmates would be fortunate to earn 2,000 yuan annually in their first year after graduation.

Naturally, Ji Jiangyuan was far ahead of them in comparison.

In terms of resources and capabilities, Ji Jiangyuan would likely maintain his lead over his classmates for the next decade!

But what about Xia Xiaolan?

Born into a rural family, raised in an impoverished area, peasant parents knew nothing about proper child-rearing, simply letting their children grow up naturally.

From birth until university admission, Xia Xiaolan’s family probably hadn’t spent even 1,000 yuan on her… Yet this country bumpkin, through her efforts, had already earned her first $2 million.

Measuring success by monetary standards, Xia Xiaolan had undoubtedly left Ji Jiangyuan far behind!

Ji Ya couldn’t tolerate this fact.

Looking at the pile of reports and accounts on her desk, Ji Ya wondered how she had fallen into such a quagmire.

She was particularly angry about Tang Hongen’s favoritism.

She had devoted herself entirely to raising Ji Jiangyuan, while what had Tang Hongen contributed?

Now he was even providing resources to help Xia Xiaolan, letting her become smug while refusing to help his son Ji Jiangyuan develop—Ji Ya had completely forgotten that Tang Hongen had desperately tried to get close to Ji Jiangyuan and participate in planning his future, but she had frantically prevented it, fearing Tang Hongen would win him over.

If Tang Hongen hadn’t tried and failed, why would he ignore his son to help Xia Xiaolan instead?

Ji Ya refused to admit defeat.

She believed Elegance still had potential.

She also felt Xia Xiaolan’s success with the Jinsha Pool district was largely due to Tang Hongen’s assistance.

So why should she admit defeat?

“Sheng Xuan is also useless, and so is Song Nanzhen. Can none of them handle that countrywoman?”

Ji Ya was distressed by the pile of account books.

She’d heard Luna had many franchised stores, while Elegance remained confined to Beijing. How could they compete like this?

The current solution seemed to be continued expansion, as the only way to prove superiority.

But further investment posed a problem—George had indicated he didn’t want to invest more in clothing, and Ji Ya was running out of money!

George wanted to focus money on more important areas, targeting whatever business was most profitable for Xia Xiaolan rather than dispersing their forces—Ji Ya doubted this reasoning, as George had always looked down on China, making only perfunctory investments.

Harold had invested over $100 million in Pengcheng.

Xia Xiaolan had easily earned two to three million dollars in Pengcheng’s real estate.

Ji Ya felt George had genuinely become interested in Pengcheng, believing money could be made there.

Managing the golf course would certainly bring George profits.

But his ambitions didn’t stop there.

Though called uncle, Harold was so much younger than him yet controlled the Wilson family fortune—how could George not be envious?

Love was important to men, but even a romance-focused person like George had career ambitions.

Ji Ya’s standards for men were extremely strict—in business, they needed to be as wealthy as Harold Wilson, yet completely devoted to her, taking her every word to heart, making her the center of everything.

She approved of George developing his career since he was her compromise choice anyway.

He had neither Tang Hongen’s power nor Harold’s wealth.

But as George focused on business development, he became less compliant with her opinions, which Ji Ya couldn’t accept.

Ultimately, it was because Elegance hadn’t developed as well as expected, and George’s investment might have been wasted, making him question Ji Ya’s business acumen.

Ji Ya believed it was the failed wedding banquet that had diminished her standing in George’s eyes.

Naturally, she blamed everything on Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen—she could never be wrong; it was others who were against her!

George wouldn’t increase investment, and Ji Ya, maintaining her goddess persona, couldn’t beg or act coy with him.

To expand Elegance’s store network, she now needed to find partners.

“Bank loans or other private capital, I welcome them all!”

This was exactly what Ji Ya told Zhen Wenxiu.

Zhen Wenxiu was troubled, “Have you considered adjusting your development plans? The brand has just been established—does it need to be this aggressive?”

Private capital?

Zhen Wenxiu truly couldn’t raise such money.

Her previous introductions to Ji Ya had been to people who could mobilize over a million in public funds.

But who would personally spend over a million? Was that possible?

Anyone who dared would have the Disciplinary Committee at their door the next day for questioning!

“Then bank loans are the only option.”

Hadn’t Xia Xiaolan relied on bank loans to revitalize the Jinsha Pool project?

She’d heard Xia Xiaolan had borrowed over ten million yuan!

Ji Ya wasn’t planning to borrow that much—calculating 100,000 yuan for rent and decoration per store, with several million in hand, she could expand to match Luna’s number of stores.

Publicly, she could announce these stores were franchises, using this to attract real capital.

Or perhaps she wouldn’t need other capital—wouldn’t she be profitable once she had dozens of stores?

Zhen Wenxiu’s mouth went dry, “…Several million in loans?”

How would that be repaid?

Besides, what could secure such loans for Ji Ya? Elegance’s current assets weren’t worth nearly that much!

Unless there were irregular operations.

Using her—or rather the Ning family’s—credit, several million in loans might be possible.

But Zhen Wenxiu couldn’t bear this responsibility.

Ji Ya was her friend, but not more important than her husband, daughter, and family. Zhen Wenxiu didn’t dare to arrange millions in loans.

Truthfully, she feared Ji Ya couldn’t repay them.

Ji Ya became instantly angry: “If others don’t believe in me, you don’t either?”

Zhen Wenxiu also felt angry.

The Ji family had abandoned Ji Ya, yet she was still running errands for her, and now Ji Ya was turning against her.

Tang Hongen’s words at the wedding banquet had gradually spread.

Even if the Ning family didn’t fear Tang Hongen, why should they offend him? Zhen Wenxiu stood up abruptly: “Ya, you need to calm down and think clearly. If you must have whatever others have, you’ll face many more difficulties in the future. You can’t possess all the good things in this world alone… If Tang Hongen marries someone else, what will you do? Tear up their marriage certificate?”

Zhen Wenxiu and Ji Ya argued.

Neither of them expected that Zhen Wenxiu’s words would prove prophetic.

Tang Hongen was now actually discussing his marriage plans!